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Weingut Dr. Burklin-Wolf with Christian Von Guradze, Proprietor

These wines have nothing in common with German Rieslings other than the fact that they are Rieslings produced in Germany. Although they are aimed at the Burgundy market, I would surely pick them out as wines of Alsace, France, if blindfolded. They are bone dry. They are floral, mineral, and complex with a crisp steely acidity.

I often tell friends that if they don’t recognize wines on a restaurant list to get a “St.-Julien”. The odds are stacked in favor. They rarely go wrong. Leoville Las Cases is my St.-Julien, for it is reminiscent of a Pauillac Bad-Boy. It has meat, concentration, and finesse. This is the 10th time I’ve had the ’95, with each addition tasting better than the previous. Since my first encounter, it has continuously been my favorite Bordeaux from that vintage. This particular bottle was a bit too cold, but it was brilliant. The brooding fruit finish was tattooed in my mouth ...

In the old-world wine realm, wine and food grow up together. Within the new-world wines, lies an elephant tapping onstage for the first time in the middle of a recital at Royal Albert Hall. Wine is of the Earth. It is of the Gods.